For the majority of the Argentine’s seven-year spell on Tyneside, Coloccini has been more than happy to take a back seat and remain out of the public domain.

Very rarely when a United player is wheeled out for a post-match interview will that man be Coloccini - and, in fairness to the 33-year-old, that applies whether Newcastle win handsomely or are hammered. He does not merely try to bask in the limelight, he just prefers to avoid any sort of publicity whatsoever.

What’s more, there are at the very least a significant handful of Magpies who offer themselves up to the written Press’ mixed zone more regularly than Coloccini does.

Yet ever since THAT incident at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, Coloccini has hogged the spotlight.

Largely the consensus opinion on the penalty and red card appears to now be that Madley was right to award a spot-kick, but wrong to issue Coloccini with his marching orders.

Seemingly the Football Association have echoed such a view.

In an interview with the club’s official website, Coloccini admitted that he was “very angry on the pitch” because he believed “a very big injustice” had occurred in “a big game”.

What is interesting about this statement is not just the fact that Coloccini has taken the decision to speak out, which in itself is extremely significant, but also the very strong language used.